Elderly woman saved from losing RM573,000 in government official impersonation scam

SINGAPORE: For more than a month in late 2023, a 73-year-old woman thought she was being investigated by the “police”, and was on the verge of transferring a chunk of her savings to scammers.

Thankfully, the scammers’ attempt to cheat the elderly woman of her life savings was thwarted by vigilant staff from Great Eastern, OCBC Bank and the police.

The retired cleaner said she could barely eat and sleep well during that period, and was even warned by the “officer” – who she later realised was a scammer – not to say a word to her son.

Speaking to the media on Jan 18, Mary (not her real name) said: “The scammer even threatened me with news articles of people taking their own lives. They said that my son would do the same if he found out I was under investigation, and made me promise not to tell him anything.”

She said it all started when she received a letter on Dec 1, 2023, telling her that she was entitled to an insurance payout of around S$6,000 (RM21,094).

When Mary called the phone number stated on the letter, she was told that she had reached a “bank security department”. The scammer did not state which bank he was from.

“I was told that someone impersonated me and used my credit card in China to spend around 300,000 yuan (RM198,941 or S$57,000). I was scared and shocked, but the person kept reassuring me that they’re the police and would help me settle this,” she said.

The retiree was then transferred to several other “police officers” who promised to prove her innocence.

“They were very patient and seemed very kind. It really sounded like they wanted to help me,” she said.

To assist with investigations, Mary was told to report to an “Officer Lin” every day via WhatsApp.

“The first thing I did when I woke up was to wish her a good morning. And before I slept, I would message her good night. I was instructed not to tell my son about this and to even use my earpiece for calls, so my son would not overhear our conversations,” she said.

When she informed the scammer that she had three Great Eastern insurance policies in her name, she was instructed to surrender one of her policies, which would result in her receiving around S$93,000 (RM326,970).

“They said they needed this money to check that the funds I owned were clean, and I believed them,” she added.

On Jan 4, 2024, Mary visited Great Eastern at Westgate mall in Jurong East, hoping to surrender her insurance policy.

“I wanted to clear my name, so I lied to the Great Eastern staff that I needed the money urgently for my son to open a pawnshop business. I told the staff to transfer the money into my OCBC Bank account,” she said.

Sensing something was amiss, Great Eastern customer service officer Toh Ming Ann did not accede to Mary’s request and alerted OCBC’s anti-scam unit, which informed the police’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC).

That same day, officers from the ASC visited Mary at her flat to convince her that she was a victim of a government official impersonation scam.

According to annual scam statistics released by the police in 2023, there were 771 cases of government official impersonation scam cases in 2022, with victims losing more than S$97mil (RM341.03mil) that year.

In 2021, more than S$106mil (RM372.67mil) was lost to such scams.

Mary could have been one of these victims.

She said: “If I had transferred my life savings of around S$70,000 (RM246,106) and the S$93,000 (RM326,970) I received from surrendering my insurance policy to the scammers, I would have lost an unimaginable amount.”

Great Eastern’s Toh said: “As a customer service officer, I believe that we’re the first line of defence to prevent potential scam victims from losing money.

“It’s important that we spot signs that our customers have been scammed to help them retain their hard-earned life savings.”

He added that Mary’s defensiveness during their interaction threw up a red flag and made him suspect she might be a victim of a scam.

Loh Chang Xiang, manager at OCBC’s anti-scam unit in the bank’s group financial crime compliance department, said: “In a case like this, time is of the essence, especially when the victim is very adamant to do as the scammer told her.”

He added: “In my work to tackle scams, I’ve noticed that the elderly can be more susceptible to government official impersonation scams. They may feel the need to follow instructions of the scammers thinking these people are the authorities, especially after they’ve gotten confused and intimidated.”

Asked why she wanted to speak to the media about what happened, Mary said: “I don’t want anyone else to fall into the trap I did. I’ve always read the news about scams but I just didn’t realise it would happen to me. I’m just thankful that I didn’t lose any money.” – The Straits Times (Singapore)/Asia News Network